Who can you trust these days?

Advertisements? Hmm. The government? Let's not go there. The "experts"? Facebook! Wait, no.

Sometimes seems like the only person you can trust is yourself.

Yikes. Myself? Trust myself?! Are you kidding? I know myself too well.

Maybe it would be good if there were a test. A self-test. Here's how it would go:

---Where am I placing my trust? In the little god inside myself? Or in the real God, above and beyond and outside myself?

---Am I praising and promoting the little god inside myself? Or the real God, above and beyond and outside myself?

Basically, there are two kinds of spirituality. The kind that praises and promotes self, and the kind that praises and promotes God. One feels good. The other one is good.

It feels good to boost your own self. To praise and promote your self. "I am good, I am strong, I am beautiful, I am smart, I am capable, I am confident." Affirmation feels good. But do you really want to sing a "hymn of praise to me"? Be honest about your religion. Is it self-worship, hidden under some other spiritual outfit? Are you trying to be your own god? Are you really good enough or strong enough or beautiful enough or smart enough or capable enough to rescue yourself?

The other kind of religion saves me from self. Christianity is the only religion that truly praises and promotes God instead of praising and promoting self. It makes me realize  that I am the problem. My self is the root of my struggles. Not society. Not my environment. Not the nitwits in the world that push my buttons. I am the problem: it's my pride, my selfishness, my greed, my desire to have my needs and wants met, my hurtfulness in placing even my wants above the needs of others. And I have no solution.

The solution can only come through a cross. A cross for Him. And a cross for me. Christ's cross bought our rescue from self. Paid the price to make up for the sins of self. That is where our trust will hold - in the perfect and accomplished work of Christ for us.

And there's another cross. The cross Christ gives to us. And our cross, that we bear, saves us from self, too. Reminds us we cannot trust ourselves. Only him.

The self hates the idea of a cross. The self does not want either one, His or mine. The self wants a throne. But what happens when you allow your self a throne? A long leash? A steady diet of ego-boosting? Cringe. Look out.Trouble. The self cannot be trusted. It is corrupt, evil, wrong, and sinful and it's proven that in plenty of ways. Ways we would never want to admit out loud.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

That's not depressing, though. That doesn't ruin my mood or my self-esteem or my outlook on life. It just reminds me where my trust belongs - not in myself, but in Jesus and his cross. When I carry my own cross, it sure hurts. I don't like it. But I need it. And I am thankful for it. Because it pulls the rug out from under self and leaves me grasping and groping for something solid, something bigger and better than me, something absolutely beyond question: the promises of God. And then, there, in the promises of God, I find the only sure, certain, trustworthy anchor for my trust: Christ and his cross.

So use the "self-test" for the soul. It's available without a doctor's referral. You can do this test by yourself at home.

--do the posts, blogs, articles, books, and videos I consume point me to myself as the solution I need?

--am I being led to trust in myself?

--is my thinking and my attitude praising and promoting God, or praising and promoting self?

--am I looking for a god inside me or outside me?

--am I bearing the crosses Christ gives me so that I am always led to mistrust myself and lean only on Christ and his cross?

--am I placing my trust for peace, forgiveness, confidence, and joy in myself, or in God?

No matter what results you get on your self-test, the prescription is always the same:

Mistrust self, trust Christ.

Minimize self, maximize Christ.

Demote self, promote Christ.

Despair of self, hope eternally in Christ.

Peace, forgiveness, confidence, and joy are found in Christ and in Christ alone.

 

Lord Jesus, I need you. I am sinful, lost, and alone. I am drawn like a magnet to myself again and again. But instead, save me from myself. Forgive me, save me, and set me free. Be my hope and my comfort, my life and my salvation. Amen.